Inescapable Fear
by xSn0wangel
Summary: Ulrich is becoming more and more withdrawn and his friends have no idea what's wrong. Is XANA causing more havoc or is someone else to blame?
1. Chapter 1

Yumi tapped her foot anxiously outside Ulrich and Odd's dorm room. She'd already knocked on the door and counted to ten but she hadn't heard any reply from inside the room; maybe he really had gone to take a nap after all. After taking a deep breath she pushed down on the door handle and let herself in. Gazing around she noticed that the room itself was surprising clean except for some scattered clothing balled up on the floor. Yumi's slightly annoyed expression softened into a smile when she noticed that disheveled and asleep in his bed was Ulrich. He was sprawled out on his side with his back facing the wall and Yumi watched as his chest rose and fell beneath his blue comforter.

She quietly walked to stand beside him and studied his face thoughtfully; his sharp features looked more at peace than they had in several weeks. Smiling to herself, Yumi carefully reached out and brushed some of his messy hair off of his face and her fingers, almost having a mind of their own, trailed down to his cheek. Her thumb ran across his cheekbone and traced the swelling dark bruise that marred his otherwise smooth skin before seeing him stir in his sleep and quickly pulling her hand away completely. She couldn't help but wince at how painful that mark looked.

Ulrich's head lolled to the side and his eyes slowly blinked open. Unaware that he wasn't alone, he sighed and upon looking at the clock cursed loudly.

"I take it you didn't have a good nap then," Yumi said between quiet laughs. He froze at the sound of her voice and his head whipped up to stare at her.

"Yumi!" he gasped before lowering his eyes, "what do _you_ want?"

She clenched her hands into fists angrily. All she did was come to check up on him and he was already trying to shut her out! Honestly she did have an ulterior motive for doing so, but it wasn't like he knew that; at least he had no way of knowing for sure. Yumi took a deep breath to help calm her down because she knew if she lashed out at Ulrich they'd only end up fighting again. Then again, at least fighting with him was somewhat normal; things between them hadn't been normal in quite a while.

"I just came to talk."

He gave her an unconvinced look then shifted his face so that she couldn't see his eyes and sat up so that he could lean back against his outstretched arms. His blankets fell down and exposed his bony shoulders, toned biceps, and an unsightly orange-sized blue bruise on his upper arm. As soon as Yumi laid eyes on it another wave of anger flared up in her gut; he probably had another excuse for that one too. She was eventually able to force her eyes away from the mark and focused instead on his weathered dark brown eyes.

"We're worried about you Ulrich." He dropped her gaze once more and ran a hand through his hair. How many times was he going to have to sit through this talk? Odd had already cornered him right before breakfast and the only reason he'd stopped harassing Ulrich was because he'd been so incredibly hungry. He hadn't followed Odd to breakfast and had ended up skipping lunch to study for his algebra exam he had at the end of the day so he was sincerely hoping that Yumi didn't want to talk through dinner.

Eyelids drooping warily, he prepared himself for another questioning that he'd have to ultimately dance around the answers to.

"I'm just under a lot of pressure right now," he slyly admits, "There's a lot riding on me." While he was speaking truthfully, he knew that Yumi wouldn't grasp the real weight his words held.

"But you don't have to deal with it all by yourself. That's what friends are for," she pressed. There was no way that whatever was bothering him couldn't be solved with the help of his friends; their group had gotten through much worse over the years, Yumi was sure of it.

"Yeah but you guys aren't miracle-workers. There's some stuff I have to figure out on my own." Ulrich thought they all needed to stop worrying about him so much, couldn't they see that he was trying his hardest to keep himself together and get himself out of this situation? He couldn't just fix things overnight but he was persistently problem solving.

"How do you even know that we can't help you when you won't even tell us what's wrong? It's like you don't want us to care enough about you to want to help you." She couldn't keep her frustration from seeping into her tone and her heart leaped uneasily when she saw his taut frown, yet she knew that he wouldn't willingly give her answers unless she could convince him to open up.

Ulrich felt the shame swim through his chest at her statement. It wasn't that he wanted them to stop caring about him, it was just that he didn't want them to pry into his personal life. His friends had given him space to sulk and reflect on his issues before, so why weren't they letting him do the same now? He had always been a closed book when it came to his family and private matters so they should've realized that he wasn't going to talk about them just because they were interested.

"There's nothing wrong so it doesn't even matter," he said defiantly but both of them knew he was only lying through his teeth.

"So now there's nothing wrong? You just said you were under a lot of pressure. That's not _nothing_." Yumi knew that her emotions were beginning to spiral out of control for good however she kind of hoped a good dose of anger would break through his shell. At the same time if she pressed too hard he could end up ignoring her completely and storming out which would be the opposite of progress.

"I've always been under pressure Yumi. We're all under pressure to stop XANA once and for all." He almost cringed at the void of sentiment in his words. Ulrich did care about protecting the world and was proud to call himself a Lyoko warrior but he was too worn out to be passionate about much of anything at the moment.

"This isn't about XANA, Ulrich," she snapped at him, "This is about you and your unwillingness to let me help you!" Maybe speaking as his friends wouldn't do any good, but Yumi wondered if he had a soft spot for her that she could exploit for answers. She didn't want to take advantage of the feelings he may or may not have for her but, upon eyeing his bruised face again, she knew something had to be done.

"I don't need you or anyone else helping me! I'm fine!" he yelled back. Ulrich clenched his jaw and buried his fists in the surrounding bed sheets. Odd hadn't been nearly as unrelenting as her; darn her stubbornness. Seeing that their conversation was as good as over, Yumi decided to try one last tactic to attempt to get through to him.

"Oh yeah? Have you looked in the mirror lately?" she asked with as even of a tone as she could manage. Ulrich visibly stiffened and his eyes widened slightly. There was _no_ conceivable way that she knew what was happening to him so his mind raced to find other implications of what she was insinuating. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that she could see right through him and it unnerved him to no end.

Yumi was shocked at his reaction to her question and all the anger and frustration she'd been feeling dissipated when she saw the panic he was emitting. But why was he acting so frightened now? She hadn't figured anything out and she had been very straightforward with her inquisitions.

"What are you talking about?" he breathlessly replied. _She couldn't know._

Her eyes narrowed at him suspiciously but after shaking some stray hairs from her face she worriedly observed Ulrich's tired face.

"You haven't been sleeping enough, you always look exhausted," she began as she took one of his hands in her own, "you barely eat anything when your appetite used to rival Odd's." Yumi traced invisible patterns on his wrist with her thumb to soothe herself. Staring down at his lap Ulrich couldn't help but wonder how accurate her words were. His clothes had been feeling a bit baggy lately and he was lucky if he got more than five hours of sleep a night with how much studying he'd been doing in order to keep his grades up.

"You never spend time with us unless it's XANA related," she softly continued, "we miss you. I miss-"

She trailed off and carefully took a knee by his bed so that she was just under eye-level with him and slowly reached out to touch his cheek once more.

Instinctively he flinched away from her hand and watched anxiously as she withdrew it quickly as if she'd been burned.

Hurt and confused, Yumi sat back on her heels and let her hands fall lamely in her lap. Did he think that she was going to hurt him? She wasn't a violent person so how could he possibly come to that conclusion? Angry at herself for believing she'd sent him the wrong signals, she fought back tears of frustration.

After a few awkward seconds passed, Ulrich stared down at her curiously. He did feel like a class A jerk for dodging her hand like that, but if anything, he would expect her to be seething at him over it instead of sitting dejectedly on the floor. In the moment that she reached for him, he knew that he was with Yumi and that she certainly wouldn't do anything to hurt him, yet his body acted on its own and now he was left to explain his touch issues. He sighed upon contemplating how to fix things and blushed slightly when he remembered how warm and gentle her hands were. God he was such a sap.

Leaning over the side of the bed he grabbed Yumi's hand and pressed her palm against the side of his face. She hesitantly fitted her hand to cup his cheek and knowing it would make her smile he nuzzled into her touch. Yumi laughed lightly and he smiled goofily at her causing both of their faces to heat up. However, Ulrich quickly remembered their previous conversation, as did Yumi and they frowned at each other once more.

He climbed out of his bed, onto the floor, and sat cross-legged in front of her. Once settled down he once again realized how beat he really was. He had been trying so hard the past couple of weeks to get his grades up and while continuing to help his friends battle XANA, but being split down the middle, he couldn't give his full attention to either without neglecting the other. Eyeing Yumi out of the corner of his eye, Ulrich wondered if he shared some of his burden with her, if she could help him balance things out. Of course he couldn't tell her everything, but if he could feel even slightly better he was willing to part with a few truths.

"Yumi…you can't tell the others any of this."

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That's it for this chapter. I've written most of this story already (20,000 words for my own personal entertainment) but I won't post anymore unless someone wants to read it so please leave a review or send me a PM if you'd like to know what happens next (: Thanks for reading - Sn0wAngel 3


	2. Chapter 2

Yumi couldn't believe that he was going to talk. She was so absolutely blown away that she nodded too enthusiastically and then reddened at the realization.

Ulrich continued to stare daggers into the floorboards as he considered what he should say and how he should even begin to say it. A tense silence washed over the two teenagers for several minutes until he finally spoke up.

"My dad was even more fed up with my grades than the last time he visited the school," Ulrich explained. "He said that if I didn't start living up to his expectations that he'd pull me out of here for good." He paused and began fiddling with a loose thread on his cargo shorts. Yumi was quiet thus far, probably because she feared cutting him off meant the end of his explanation yet, he assumed she would have a lot to say by the end of it.

"Since I've apparently shown that I'm not going to do any better on my own, or so he says, he asked my uncle to move nearby and my father has been paying him to tutor me. The problem is my uncle takes his job very seriously and if I'm late to my sessions with him or if I miss one, he says he'll call my dad and tell him I'm a lost cause. Then it's bye-bye Kadic for me."

Somewhat uneasy, Ulrich shifted his weight and a leg so that he could prop his right elbow on his right knee. He was glad to finally tell another person, especially Yumi, about what had been burdening him so much but he was unsure of how she'd react.

"So then why didn't you fill us in Ulrich? We could've helped you study and laid off more when had to skip out on us for your uncle. It seems to me that you've been making all of this way more complicated than it needs to be." She really couldn't understand why he had to be so darn secretive when it came to his family. If he would have just said that if he didn't get his grades up he'd have to go back home then they all would've tried to help him out to the best of their abilities. This martyr behavior needed to stop.

Wincing at her words, Ulrich finally looked up from the floor and sent her a half-hearted glare. He should have known she wouldn't understand; that's why he didn't want to tell her anything in the first place.

"You don't get it at all do you?" he muttered angrily. "If I would have told you guys then there would have been even more pressure not to screw up. It wouldn't have been just my family members getting on my case about doing better in class, but all of you too! Things are bad enough the way they are, I can't imagine having to worry about my grades _all_ the time." He didn't want to be angry that she'd come to that conclusion, yet he simply wanted her to understand. If his friends had constantly given him looks of pity when he told them how he'd done on all his tests and had kept him from going on missions to Lyoko because he "needed" to study, then he would've gone insane.

"Are your grades really bad enough that we would've been on your case all the time?" she wondered aloud. Yumi knew that he had always struggled in school, however she couldn't imagine that with all the time he spent being tutored and studying that he was failing anything.

"I have mostly A's and two B's."

Yumi couldn't help but beam at him. His grades were so much better than before that she almost couldn't believe it.

"That's great Ulrich! You've improved so much!" she exclaimed warmly; nevertheless, he didn't seem near as thrilled. He snorted one humorless laugh.

"I've improved but my grades still aren't good enough for my father," Ulrich said. Yumi frowned at this and forced herself not to roll her eyes.

"What does he expect you to be perfect or something?"

Eyes narrowing at her, he buried a hand in his hair and pulled roughly.

"Yes! That's why this is so frustrating and why it doesn't matter if I tell you guys or if you help me and it doesn't matter how much I try or do whatever it takes to study because I will never be good enough or smart enough for my father!"

Feeling even more physically and mentally drained than before, he huffed and let himself fall backwards with a thump. Laying on his back and staring at the ceiling, he realized just how helpless he felt about this whole situation.

"I don't know why I've even been trying so hard and putting up with all this anyways. My father's never going to be satisfied. I might as well pack my bags right now."

"No, don't say things like that," Yumi quietly replied before crawling closer to Ulrich's side. She couldn't stand seeing him so crestfallen yet she was at a loss at how to help. Tentatively she leaned over him and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Your father may not see how wonderful you are but we do. I won't let you give up on yourself."

Leaning back, Yumi held out a hand to Ulrich which he graciously took with a smile and she pulled him to a sitting position. Startled by how close their faces were to each other they both deeply blushed scarlet.

"We'll figure something out Ulrich, it'll be okay," she whispered. She sincerely hoped just as much as he did, that she was right.

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"Oh Ulrich, how nice of you to grace us with your presence!" Odd declared as soon as he saw his roommate approach the lunch table their group was sitting at. Ulrich avoided eye contact with Odd when he sat down because he knew his friend was probably still angry about their previous confrontation, but everyone else assumed that he was just upset by the outburst.

"Cut it out Odd," Yumi said while shooting him a glare. The last thing she needed right now was another conflict.

"I was just kidding jeeze! Everybody is so touchy today," Odd muttered before grabbing his tray and heading to get seconds. Jeremie and Aelita exchanged looks after he'd left and shook their heads simultaneously.

"So Ulrich," began Aelita cheerily, "how's your day been?" At first his only response was a glance in her direction, however Ulrich eventually sheepishly mumbled something about it being very tiring.

Lost in his own thoughts, Ulrich was completely jostled when Odd's hand slapped the middle of his back.

"Oh come on good buddy! After that three hour nap I thought you'd totally be re-charged" Odd, who no longer bore any ill will against Ulrich, good-naturedly exclaimed. Barely able to stifle a groan by biting his lip, Ulrich abruptly stood, left the table, dumped his untouched food in the trash, and briskly walked the lunchroom before anyone could stop him.

"Ulrich?"

"Hey, wait!"

Outright confused by his departure and unsure of whom to blame, Aelita, Yumi, and Jeremie shot pointed looks at Odd to which he laughed nervously and shrugged.

"Who would've known that would set him off? The guy is so moody, am I right?" Odd asked trying to redeem himself. Yumi dropped her head in her hands in exasperation.

"Odd, I just confronted him about what was bothering him! Of course something like that would piss him off!" she shouted.

"Well how was I supposed to know?" he argued back, "It's not like you're the only person who's tried to talk to him today." When he finished talking Odd looked up to see that the glowers pointed at him had only intensified.

"Wait-you had an intervention with Ulrich today too?" asked Yumi and Odd nodded in response.

"Odd!" Jeremie threw his arms up in the air, "We agreed last night that Yumi was going to try to talk to Ulrich today!" They had all met up last night in Aelita's room, excluding Ulrich of course, and debated over how they should attempt to help their friend. After much debate and discussion there was a unanimous decision that Yumi, being one of the people he would be more inclined to talk to, should be the one to confront him.

"I know, I know," Odd grumbled, "but you guys didn't see him when he got his history test back. He looked so crushed. I couldn't help but try."

"No wonder he didn't want to talk to me," Yumi interrupted, "he probably already felt ambushed. I barely got any information out of him and what he did say he made me promise not to tell you guys." She could tell from the looks on her friends faces that this was the last thing they wanted to hear, yet on the other hand she couldn't betray Ulrich's trust by telling them everything.

Aelita thoughtfully asked, "But did he actually tell you why he's upset?"

"It was weird, I mean, he told me why, but it didn't seem like it was something that he should be that bothered by."

Odd stared at the empty seat that Ulrich had been sitting in a few minutes ago. If he knew his roommate as well as he thought he did, he knew that he'd be heading to the showers to clear his head. He may not have known what his friend had told Yumi, but he was pretty sure he had an inkling as to what was wrong with him and that smack on Ulrich's back had only been further verification. Realizing that he'd zoned out of his friends' conversation, Odd decided it was as good as a time as ever to go take a shower. Wishing his pals a good night, despite the suspicious looks on their faces, he headed off to his room with a smirk on his face.

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That's it for this chapter! Sorry it was a little shorter than the last one but I'm super excited at all the feedback I got for the last chapter. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed (: and don't worry, if you haven't figured it out Ulrich's problem will be revealed in the next chapter so stay tuned!


	3. Chapter 3

Ulrich numbly stared at his reflection in the foggy bathroom mirrors. Yumi had asked him if he'd looked in mirror lately and frankly he'd been looking into one rather frequently.

He'd decided to take a shower after leaving dinner in hopes of calming himself down after such a mentally strenuous day. On the bright side, he was pretty sure he'd aced his algebra test that morning, however, there certainly were a few problems that he knew he'd solved the answers incorrectly to and then there was the matter concerning his friends. They had seen right through his act from the very beginning and he was damn afraid that they'd catch on very soon.

Shifting so that he could view his back, over his shoulder, in the mirror, Ulrich studied the purple bruise about the size of a tennis ball that his good buddy had smacked dead-on in the lunchroom. It wasn't like Odd had intentionally tried to hurt him but even a light pat would've aggravated the injury. Then again, a pat anywhere on Ulrich's splotchy abdomen would have hurt him somehow.

He examined the newly forming black markings on his sides, yellowing spots on his collarbones, the worst contusions on his abs, deep scratch across his right ribs, and the rainbow of discoloration everywhere else. Luckily his injuries were for the most part restricted to his core and occasionally his legs and upper arms so most of his classmates wouldn't expect anything out of the ordinary when they saw him.

Of course, his friends were much more observant and they questioned him every time they spied a spot on his neck or arm. At first he'd given them very believable and well-thought-out excuses such as him getting hurt practicing soccer, yet as the wounds multiplied the excuses had become more generic and over-used like 'oh, I fell'. In order to arouse less distrust, he began wearing long sleeves more often and stopped visiting the swimming pool. Occasionally he missed the feel of the fall breeze on his skin and the cool water on his aching muscles however, he understood what had to be done.

Yumi was right when she said he wasn't eating enough too he noticed with a frown; sure he was still muscular but he was certainly thinner. His skin looked like it was clinging desperately to his ribs and his hip bones protruded way more than what he considered healthy. Not eating the entire day wasn't exactly helping him out though.

Although he was quite absorbed in his reflection, Ulrich didn't miss the sound of someone approaching the bathroom and quickly pulled on a shirt. As he was stepping into some sweat-pants, Odd walked into the room and carelessly threw his shower necessities beside one of the sinks.

"I figured you'd be taking a shower. Could smell you from across the lunchroom," he jokingly teased.

"I find that hard to believe," said Ulrich as he was tying the drawstrings on his pants.

"And why's that?"

"Because there's no way you could smell anything besides your own feet."

Odd rolled his eyes but chuckled regardless at his friend's lapse into his old ways.

"Oh ha-ha very funny. Say, what happened to your arm there?"

Ulrich looked at his arms curiously until he spotted a black splotch right above his right elbow and then cursed himself for bringing a short-sleeved shirt with him to the bathroom. How was he supposed to know Odd would follow him in here? Furrowing his eyebrows, he wondered what his friend was up to; Odd almost never showered at night.

"Huh," he feigned innocence, "I don't know. Guess I ran into something."

Odd narrowed his eyes and kicked himself for not getting to the showers a couple minutes sooner. He had been _so_ close to seeing enough of his friend to either invalidate or affirm his qualms and now that he'd missed his chance he knew that there was no way Ulrich would give him the same opportunity again.

"Seems like you've been doing that a lot lately," said Odd cryptically, "weird thing is I never see you tripping or anything. You're actually one of the least clumsy people I know. "

Ulrich gave him an odd look and shrugged.

"Beats me. I'm heading back to the room. Enjoy your shower."

Odd angrily turned on a shower, stripped out of his clothes, and walked into the spray of water. There had to be another _not _creepy way to get Ulrich to take his shirt off…

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Ulrich blinked tiredly as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. He wasn't in his room and hell he wasn't even in a bed.

Taking a deep breath, he winced when he felt his ribs flare up in pain and he hugged his knees to his chest. Wondering what else was injured last night, he stretched out his arms and legs and was pleased to only find them a bit stiff excluding his left shoulder.

Groaning he pushed himself up into a sitting position and then attempted to stand before, being so disoriented, he fell back down onto his backside. As he waited for his vision to clear up from the mass of swirling colors, his head began throbbing painfully. He hissed in pain as he rubbed his temple in a circular motion while hoping that any second the ache would subside. After a few minutes passed by agonizingly slowly, he was able to see clearly again and his migraine died down to a dull ache.

Looking around the room he suddenly determined that he was leaning against one the walls of his uncle's living room. Racking his brain for why he'd slept on the floor, Ulrich felt his phone vibrate against his thigh and pulled it out to see if he had any messages; there were nine missed calls and fourteen text messages. Sighing, he skimmed through the texts and saw that most of them were from Odd with some intermittent messages from the rest of his friends.

_Dude are you staying over at your uncle's?_

_Is everything okay?_

_You aren't sulking in the woods are you?_

Deciding that he'd better start damage control before they got anymore worried, Ulrich scrolled through his contacts till he reached Odd's name but before he could hit the call button, he got an incoming call from Yumi.

"Yumi?"

**"****_Ulrich! Where are you?" _**

He vaguely heard Odd yell in the background, "Of course he'd pick up the phone when she calls!"

**"****_Ulrich?"_**

Shaking his head and quickly regretting doing so when he felt his headache escalate, Ulrich wondered just how he was going to talk himself out of this one.

"What's up? Is it XANA?"

**_"_****_Don't play dumb!"_** He flinched and decided he might as well admit where he was.

"I'm at my uncle's. Guess I fell asleep studying." There was a slight pause before Yumi answered.

**_"_****_Ulrich we were so worried when you didn't come back last night. We thought that something had happened and that XANA had kidnapped you or worse," _**_she trailed off._

"I'm sorry but what did you expect me to do? I thought you wanted me to get more sleep."

**_"_****_Are you serious right now?! Do you have any idea how worried we've been?! I can't even talk to you right now."_**

He hung up when he heard the dial tone and slid his phone back into his pocket. Trying to stand once more, Ulrich dizzily made it to the bathroom and checked his reflection in the mirror. He had a nasty split lip and upon attempting to straighten out his hair he flinched in pain. Pushing back his bangs to find the source of the soreness, he found a large bump with a trickle of dried blood trailing across it. Shit. That had to be the reason his head hurt so badly.

Frustrated with his situation, Ulrich scrambled to remember what had happened to him last night. Walking slowly, he found and gathered his things before heading to the door. On his way, he noticed that his uncle's kitchen table was pushed back against the opposite wall from where it normally was; bits and pieces of memory were coming back to him. Deciding that it ultimately didn't matter what happened because either way he was going to be late for school, Ulrich hobbled out the door.

It was going to be another long day.

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Ulrich hastily pulled on some clean clothing and grabbed the notebooks he'd need for his first class. He was already twenty minutes late but he knew he couldn't afford to miss the entire lecture. Exiting his room and pulling the door behind him, he ran into the last possible person he wanted to see.

"Stern, you know that the visiting the dorms is prohibited during school hours! What do you have to say for yourself?" asked Jim.

"I-uh," Ulrich began before his migraine intensified ten-fold and he shut his eyes in pain. He could feel himself drifting in and out of consciousness. Groaning he clenched his palm to his head, dropped his books, and backed up till his back made contact with the wall while Jim looked at him worriedly.

"Stern what's the matter? Are you hurt?" He grabbed Ulrich's arm and attempted to pry it away from his head so that he could see if he had an injury. Despite his serious headache, Ulrich froze at Jim's proximity and fearfully wondered what his teacher was doing; his immobility made it much easier for Jim to see the large bump from behind Ulrich's bangs. Pushing the hair aside, Jim raised his eyebrows at the sight of the young boy's bruise.

"Come on. I'm taking you to the infirmary." Ulrich looked at Jim with sheer terror in his eyes. There was no way he could risk Yolanda seeing the rest of his bruises.

"No! I-I mean, I'm fine Jim. It's just a little headache," he tried to say as casually as he could but Jim wasn't buying it.

"Stern you nearly blacked out in the hallway just now. We need to get that head of yours checked out pronto."

With his head screaming at him, Ulrich couldn't even begin to think of another excuse and impassively allowed Jim to half-carry him to the infirmary.

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As he settled back on the cot, Ulrich felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Hoping that Jim and Yolanda would take pity on him and not confiscate his phone, he pulled it out and saw that he had a text from Odd.

_Don't tell me you're playing hooky without me. What kind of friend are you?! D:_

He quickly replied: _Actually in the infirmary. Had a headache._

His phone was back in his pocket just before Yolanda re-entered the room.

"So Jim tells me you nearly passed out in the hallway and you have a large contusion on your forehead. Let's have a look shall we? Please sit up if you can." He did as he was told and flinched slightly when she reached for his face. She gave him a sharp look and he managed to stay still the second time she went to examine him. After observing the bump and pressing on it very softly with her fingers, Ulrich crying out as she did, the nurse grabbed a small flashlight and said "This might hurt a bit," before shining it into his left eye. He gasped and closed his eyes yet again as his head throbbed worse than ever.

"Wound to the head, sensitivity to light," she rambled off, "tell me Ulrich, have you been feeling dizzy or nauseous since you hit your head?"

"No." She gave him a disbelieving look. "Er….maybe a little."

Yolanda gave him a look of pity and it clawed his insides to pieces. Yeah, yeah he knew that his life sucked at the moment.

"Ulrich I believe you have a concussion."

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And that's all for this chapter. Hope it answered a lot of your questions and props to people who figured out what was going on before the update (:

Let me know if you like how things or going or if I need to change later chapters. Thanks for reading 3


	4. Chapter 4

Staring up at the ceiling did little to console Ulrich's nerves. He had finally remembered what had happened to him the day before but it wasn't exactly a pleasant memory. His uncle had already been angry that he'd gotten a B+ on his history test and while he was being tutored he continuously failed to answer a chemistry problem correctly resulted in his face being smashed against the wall. The last thing he remembered was his shoulder hitting the wall and then darkness.

However, it'd been nothing short of a miracle that he'd convinced Mr. Delmas to let him tell his parents about his concussion when they were to visit Kadic the next day. Of course, the principal had only agreed because he preferred to speak to Mr. and Mrs. Stern personally. His parents were actually coming the next day to watch the soccer game that they thought they were coming to see their son play in. Honestly he didn't care what Mr. Delmas had to say to them, he just wanted to see how they'd react when they found out that they might have permanently damaged their son.

At least everyone had bought his story of falling down the stairs; the problem was he knew his friends wouldn't be fooled.

Yolanda had him on mandatory bed rest for three days and he knew there was no way he'd be able to sneak out to his uncle's to study when Odd was watching over him. Deciding to get the phone call over with, he dialed his uncle's number on his cell phone.

"Hello, Uncle?"

"What is it Ulrich? I'm very busy," he sneered.

"I'm sorry but I won't be able to come over and study tonight. I'm sick and the school has me on mandatory bed rest."

There was a surprisingly quiet pause.

"Fine. But I expect to to study twice as long on your own and you better do well on that next chemistry test if you know what's good for you."

"I understand."

The line disconnected.

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Odd burst through the door and leered over at Ulrich.

"I thought I'd find you here." He dramatically jumped onto his bed and pointed at Ulrich. "You didn't go to the infirmary at all did you?!"

"Oh no Detective Odd is onto me again," Ulrich sarcastically said, "you think that I wanted to lie in bed all day?" Odd squinted his eyes at him.

"But of course! It's all a part of your plan isn't it?!"

"Cut the theatrics Odd."

Odd huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well fine. Sorry that I was trying to make you feel better."

"How exactly was that supposed to make me feel better?" Ulrich asked while massaging is temple.

"They say laughter is the best medicine," exclaimed Odd.

"I don't think laughter will cure the flu."He felt bad about lying to his friend about what was wrong with him, but he couldn't let anyone else know he had a concussion.

"Well of course it won't with that attitude!" Ulrich rolled his eyes and turned to lie on his side, facing Odd.

"Hey, what happened to your lip? Don't tell me you were making out with Yumi…" Odd didn't even get to finish his sentence before a pillow wacked him upside the head. Ulrich didn't look at him when he replied, "I tripped."

He watched as Odd's expression became unreadable and he began slowly stalking towards his bed.

"Odd? What are you-?"

"BANZAI!"

Ulrich hissed in pain as Odd sprang up and on top of him, straddled his hips, and pinned down his arms. Gritting his teeth he tried elbowing Odd off of him but his friend saw it coming and dodged before he could make contact.

"Get the hell off of me!" Ulrich yelled while his eyes began to water. He may be scrawny but Odd's behind was putting pressure on all kinds of bruises. What was he even trying to accomplish?

"Ah ah ah! If you weren't so stubborn we wouldn't have to do this the hard way," Odd growled while clamping down on Ulrich's wrists with his right hand and using his left to pry up the other's shirt.

He only managed to see a glimpse of his friend's stomach before Ulrich managed to knock him onto the floor with his knee, however in that instant he saw more than enough to confirm his fears. Clenching his fists in rage, Odd got to his feet and quietly left the room.

How could Ulrich let someone do that to him? He was so upset that he completely ignored Yumi when she passed by him. Yet the only thing on his mind was that now that he knew Ulrich's secret, could he get him to tell him what was going on?

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"Hey," said Yumi when she came into Ulrich's room, "Heard you weren't feeling well. How're you holding up?"

Head in his hands, he didn't respond or gave any indication that he'd heard what she said. He was still so shaken up from Odd that he didn't even realize that anyone else had come in. If he didn't get a break soon he was sure he'd go crazy from all the stress.

Yumi placed a hand on his shoulder and she felt his body seize up.

"Ulrich? Is everything okay?"

Looking up and seeing that it was only her, he sighed and leaned back onto his pillow.

"Yeah I'm fine," he mumbled.

"Considering that I just saw Odd leaving here in a hissy fit I hardly doubt that's true."

She sat on the side of the bed facing away from Ulrich and he moved slightly to allow her more room. Relaxing and closing his eyes, he felt his ever present headache ebb away but then remembered that Yumi was probably waiting for an explanation still. Opening one eye he saw her worriedly staring down at him over her shoulder.

"Odd has a way of trying to worm his way into my business." She raised an eyebrow at him and patiently waited for him to say more but he didn't. He wondered if he should just go ahead and tell her already because there was no way that Odd was going to keep his big mouth shut, however, he wasn't sure he had the courage to tell Yumi himself. Thinking about the other things he was too afraid to tell Yumi made his face heat up.

"This doesn't have anything to do with me does it?" she asked. Ulrich's face heated up even more and he shook his head quickly but the motion made him dizzy and he rested a palm on his forehead. Yumi leaned over him and braced herself with her right arm against the wall and with her left she gently nudged his hand out of the way. Sliding her hand beneath his bangs in an attempt to check his temperature, her pinky grazed his head wound. Ulrich jerked and cried in pain while instinctively Yumi examined his face looking for the source of his pain. When she pushed back his hair once more she finally saw the bump and gasped, "Ah! What happened to your head?"

"I just uh- fell. It's nothing."

"You've got to be kidding me?!" she yelled at him, "What happened to you?"

With a sense of impending doom settling in his gut, Ulrich decided that he might as well deny it as long as he could.

"Nothing okay?"

Yumi stood up and turned her back on him.

"I guess I was stupid enough to think that you could trust me now," she uttered before leaving Ulrich alone in his room. Frustrated with himself more than ever Ulrich rolled over in bed and punched the wall angrily. What was he supposed to do now?

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"Hey buddy, I brought you some dinner," Odd said while handing Ulrich a plate of food. He stared at it before leaning over and setting in on the floor by his bed and rolling back over onto his side.

"Thanks but I'm not really hungry." Odd sighed and sat down on his bed. He knew his friend would be angry at him after what happened but eventually he knew his best friend would forget him.

At least he hoped so...

"I didn't tell any of the others y'know," he said while praying his good buddy hadn't been brooding all day, "but I will if you don't let me see all the damage.

Dedicated to his story and rather annoyed by the thought of Odd blackmailing him, Ulrich muttered, "What are you talking about?"

"Dude I don't want to have to hold you down again."

Refusing to dignify Odd's threat with a response, Ulrich narrowed his eyes at him and braced himself for an impact that never came. Odd wasn't stupid, he knew that his little stunt earlier had really caused Ulrich a lot of pain and there was no way that he'd try something like that again. His desperation had gotten the better of him before but now he knew how to crack his best friend's tough shell.

"Whoa, take it easy there I'm not going to try anything," Odd said while holding up his hands in surrender, "but humor me for a second."

He could tell from the other's face that Ulrich had no idea where he was going with this and Odd was quite proud of that. If the situation called for it, he could be serious and smiled slightly when Ulrich tentatively nodded once to show that he would listen.

"Let's say that I came back from town one day with a black eye. How would you react?"

Rolling his eyes, Ulrich replied, "I'd probably ask whose girlfriend you tried to steal."

"Okay so that was a bad example but seriously if I was really hurt and tried to hide it from you wouldn't you say something?"

"If it was really serious I would," Ulrich admitted. Happy to actually get some positive feedback, Odd felt his pride swell slightly.

"You're kinda being a hypocrite Ulrich, I mean if one of us gets hurt than by all means we should figure out what happened but you're hurt and it's not cool for me to ask about it?"

Fuming once more Ulrich huffed, "First of all, it's not even that bad and secondly it's not that simple! This isn't a school bully or XANA's work." His 'good buddy' was really trying his patience today. He had no idea what he was trying to worm his way into.

"It wasn't like you were hiding a couple of bruises Ulrich. Actually it is that simple, weren't you listening at all good buddy? And for the record how are either of those two examples simple? You're comparing saving the world to-"

"I'd rather fight XANA than my own family!" Ulrich shouted. Redder than a tomato the realization quickly dawned on him that he'd said way more than he'd wanted to. "I mean-I…" he attempted to take back what he'd said but he ended up trailing off instead.

"You don't have to explain," Odd said cautiously, "I won't try to pry anymore or try to get you to see where I'm coming from, just let me see what's under your shirt and I'll drop everything." He really didn't want to let the conversation go yet he'd already gotten everything he needed to out of Ulrich and the look on his face when he'd hit his breaking point was tough to stomach. Also, he was afraid that if he kept drilling him that his friend would completely shut down and he'd get absolutely no where after all this.

He watched silently as Ulrich fidgeted his hands in his lap and looked totally at a loss. Odd had pushed him into a corner and there wasn't any other way out. Just because he had to show him the bruises and cuts didn't mean that he had to say how he gotten them; for that loophole, Ulrich was thankful.

"Alright."

Moving as if he was about to face impending doom, he swung his legs over the side of the bed so that he could rest his feet upon the floor and slumped his shoulders as he slid his fingers to the edge of his t-shirt. Deciding to simply get it over already he roughly pulled his shirt up and over his head.

There were three prominent bruises on his gut that Odd thought looked like the products of fists, several markings creeped around his upper arms like someone had been restraining him, random splotches all over his skin, and sickly yellow bruises everywhere in between.

Seeing his friend in such a condition made him sick to his stomach. He had no idea how someone could do that to their own flesh and blood. Ulrich was refusing to look at him but Odd could see how ashamed he was of himself; his body and his pride had taken tremendous damage. Odd didn't even want to think about how Ulrich was dealing with all of this mentally. He couldn't imagine walking into a lion's den every day.

"Satisfied?" Ulrich grunted to which Odd only nodded and made to sit on his own bed. Caught up in his thoughts, he didn't watch as his roommate tensely shrugged his shirt back on and attempted to stand. When Ulrich got to his feet, head swimming slightly he stumbled sideways a few steps until he was able to brace himself against the wall. Finally noticing the other, Odd asked, "You okay? There's no need to push it, you've still got two more days of bed rest."

"I'd like to take a walk."

Sighing at Ulrich's antics yet smiling all the same, Odd watched as his friend hobbled out of the room.

"Call me if you pass out somewhere so I can come and getcha!" he hollered after him.

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That's all for this chapter! I hope everyone's all cleared up now (: but I was kind of sad at the amount of reviews I got for Chapter 3 so I have a proposition for you guys. If you lovely readers could kindly get me to 25 reviews in the next 24 hours...I'll immediately post two more chapters! Otherwise I'll just keep updating whenever I feel like it so it's up to you guys. Anyways thanks again for reading and I hope to hear from you guys :D


	5. Chapter 5

Collapsing at the foot of a large hickory tree, Ulrich was exhausted from his walk out into the forest, nevertheless he was glad that he made the trip. He really needed to just get away from everybody for a while. They all didn't understand what was really going on and they certainly weren't helping him out. The pity on Odd's face when he'd seen what his uncle had been doing to him, was very unsettling to say the least.

Hearing his phone chime from his pocket, he moaned, "what now?" Not bothering to see who was calling, because he really didn't care, he pressed the mobile to the side of his face.

"Hello?"

**_"_****_Hey,"_** Yumi's voice hesitantly greeted him. He wasn't sure what to say after what happened earlier so he stayed silent.

**_"_****_Are you feeling any better?"_** There she was worrying about him again.

"Yeah I'm doing okay, thanks." Another pause swelled between them. The problem with phone calls, Ulrich grimaced, was that he couldn't see her expression. Then again, maybe he didn't want to see the hurt in her eyes.

**_"_****_I bet your head is killing you. That goose-egg looked pretty bad."_**

"No, I'm fine," he pressed. Why wouldn't anyone believe him?

**_"_****_If you're fine, then why exactly are you on mandatory bed rest?"_** She sure didn't waste any time. Ulrich was going to personally hit Odd upside the head with another pillow. Then again, he couldn't expect his friend to lie about where he was; it was always important to know where everyone was in case of a XANA attack.

"I have the flu."

**_"_****_You didn't seem very sick earlier,"_** she said with apparent skepticism in her voice, **_"and you didn't have a fever or any other flu-like symptoms. I hardly believe that anyone down with the flu could walk to the woods unattended."_**

"I don't know what you want me to say. Since you won't believe me anyways," he said tonelessly.

**_"_****_How about the truth?"_**

"Yumi, I have to go." He really didn't need a phone interrogation right now; it was like she was kicking him while he was already down. If she had called him with the intention of simply talking about her day or something far less meaningful, he would have reveled in the moment for as long as it lasted, however, she wanted to talk about his problems and he didn't have the patience to at the moment. Surely she could understand that.

"**_Fine_**," she snapped, "**_because brooding in the woods is way more important than your health_**."

Apparently she didn't understand that and once again, he hung up when he heard a dial-tone.

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Jeremie scrawled over his notebook as he solved the simplistic math problems that his class had been assigned for homework. Glancing over at Ulrich who was working far less diligently than himself, he set his finished work aside and turned back to his friend.

"Are you stuck?"

"Yeah, I just can't remember how to start this one."

Looking over Ulrich's work and seeing that he wasn't even halfway done with the assignment he scratched the back of his head in thought. Both of them had aced the last three algebra quizzes and this particular set of problems was fundamentally the same as the ones they'd been learning before but with a few more steps. Yet, this being the case, Ulrich should have at least been able to begin working through the problem. How could he have forgotten how to do something that'd he'd proven to have understood so well?

Explaining how to start the problem, Jeremie was even more confused when the other took longer than he'd expected to remember how to do the rest of it. It was like he was learning how to solve the equation all over again. However, he patiently helped Ulrich through the rest of the assignment without mentioning it.

He knew that his friend had been even more edgy lately since Yumi and Odd had confronted him about his mysterious depression and he didn't want to add to the stress, yet he couldn't help but tell Ulrich his two cents.

"Thanks for helping me out Jeremie. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it. All that I ask is that you let me get something off of my chest."

He noted Ulrich's uneasiness at his request but the other boy still nodded in response.

"I'm not going to lecture you or try to get you tell me what's going on with you because I doubt it would do any good." Jeremie paused and took a deep breath. "However, we're all needed in the fight against XANA and by not taking care of yourself, you're leaving our team more open to attack. What if there was a tower activated right now and Yumi and Odd were unable to get Aelita there in time? More often than that we already cut things too close, can you imagine how much worse we'd be off with one less person?"

Gathering his notes and books, Jeremie stood.

"Well maybe that was a lecture after all," he said sheepishly, "sorry about that."

Sensing he wasn't going to get an answer, he said goodbye to Ulrich and headed back to his own room.

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Pulling on his warm-ups over his soccer jersey, Ulrich groaned. Surely Aelita was going to pop into his room and tell him about how worried she was about him and whatnot; after all she was the only one who hadn't tried to talk to him about his predicament. After sliding his feet into his tennis shoes, he slowly stood and waited patiently for the dizziness that came with the movement to subside before beginning the trip to the soccer field.

Feeling a sense of impending doom, his feet dragged upon the concrete sidewalk leading to the grassy courtyard. Ulrich gazed out at his teammates whom were finishing up their warm up for the big game. He caught one or two of them looking back at him but didn't return their smiles or waves.

Shuffling down to his team's bench, Jim cheerfully greeted him and rambled on about how he hoped they'd be able to take down the opposing school without their star player. He only half listened as he anxiously scanned the bleachers for his parents. They surely were already there but he had yet to see his father's stern expression and his mother's blank one; what a happy family they all were. How lucky could he be that the one game they decided to come to he was unable to play? If the school hadn't found out about his condition he was sure he would've been out there with the others; however, perhaps it was best that there wouldn't be so much pressure on him to play well when he could barely move around at all.

Finally coming across their faces in the crowd, Ulrich flinched slightly upon seeing his father's body tensed up in rage. It wasn't his fault he couldn't play anyways right? He really wasn't sure. On one hand his father was paying his uncle to tutor him and to basically smack him around so the parent should be to blame, yet if he would've studied harder he wouldn't have been injured so seriously. It wasn't fair that he had to deal with his family's wrath, but if he simply was a good student and could've done better for once then he wouldn't be stuck on the sidelines.

Putting off the confrontation for as long as possible, he turned away from the crowd just in time to see the players take their positions and begin playing.

Unfortunately, without their most valuable player, it wasn't much of a game at all. The other team practically kicked the ball in circles around Kadic's team and was leading five points to one at the end of the first half. Frustrated at his inability to play, Ulrich left the bench just before his friends left the field for halftime and headed inside one of the main buildings to cool off. Grabbing a drink from a water fountain, he almost didn't hear his father come up behind him.

"Ulrich," he spat, "do you mind explaining to your mother and I why we drove all the way here to watch our son sit on the bench?"

Timidly facing his father and shying back into a row of lockers, Ulrich inwardly cursed his cowardice. Every other time he'd been lectured by this man, he'd fought back with eyes ablaze, but there he was nervous and afraid. What was wrong with him?

"I'm waiting for an explanation. We've already seen what lowlifes you associate with and how terrible your grades have been let's hear why you've disrespected us once again."

Although he was upset by the harsh accusations, he felt at a loss of what to say. His father's anger had never struck such a cord in him before; he'd always have a retort or bite back something when they'd fought. So he said the only thing he could think of.

"Sorry."

Ulrich's father reached out, grabbed his son's collar, and slammed him backwards into the lockers. It was obvious that the man was only acting out of anger, hadn't meant to cause any physical harm, and only wanted to shake his son up a bit however the action had his body harshly pressed against the contusions on his back. His mouth opened in a silent gasp and unconsciously recalling his uncle's movements, he shut his eyes and prepared himself for another impact.

"You're sorry?! You aren't getting out of this that easily. Explain yourself now or so help me…"

Knowing that in his current condition, his body couldn't take another beating, Ulrich fearfully blurted out, "A concussion…I have a concussion so they won't let me play…sorry."

"You expect me to believe that? I bet you're just on academic suspension. You worthless disappointment."

Opening his eyes slowly but unable to look his father in the eyes, he shook his head slightly.

"No. I just didn't study hard enough so Uncle…" Ulrich trailed off and hung his head in shame. He miserably wondered if he should have just let Mr. Delmas tell them about his condition but a part of him was angry. How was it okay for his parents to tell his uncle to kick him around when he didn't do his homework? Sure it had been bruises and a sore spot here or there before but now he had a serious injury that could potentially affect him the rest of his life. There was no chance that he could help in the fight against XANA in his condition which made him an easy target if there was a surprise attack. Hell, there was a chance that he might've never woken up when he'd been knocked out in the first place. He could've _died_ and there they were complaining about him not playing a damn soccer game.

"Uncle gave me a concussion okay?! I got a B on my chemistry test and it wasn't good enough for him so he slammed me into the wall. Is that what you wanted to hear?" he yelled exasperatedly.

The grip on his shirt immediately disappeared and for once Ulrich was astonished to see his parents examining him with looks of shock and confusion.

"What are you talking about Ulrich?" his mother quietly asked.

His anger had left him all in one rush like a deflated balloon but still refusing to stare at anything other than the floor, he wondered how much his parents really knew about what was going on in his life. It wasn't like he called them up to chat once a week or anything but they seriously didn't seem to take an interest in his life outside of grades and soccer. The most annoying part was that it was their fault that the last couple of weeks had been hell and they acted like nothing had changed.

"Dad told Uncle to whip me into shape and get my grades up by any means necessary didn't you?" Ulrich passively said. He then paused for a moment to hear an affirmative from his father but never got one so he continued on anyways.

"Yes he did tutor me but when he was quizzing me and I got a question wrong or if I didn't do well enough on an exam or quiz, he punished me somehow; whether that was a punch, kick, or the like depended on his mood." He thoughtfully examined the way his father's hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. Ulrich couldn't believe he was actually having this conversation and felt very detached from his emotions. His parents were listening to him? He couldn't remember the last time that had happened.

"Seems too good to be true doesn't it Dad? Smack me around a bit, threaten to take me away from my friends, and you get the quiet, obedient, and hard-working son you've always wanted. Sure I can't play any sports on account of the whole_ it hurts to even move_ part, but still. Dream come true."

The last thing he wanted was to do cry in front of his parents however as the teardrops began to gather in the corners of his eyes he realized that it really didn't matter because it wouldn't change their perspective on who he was as a person. Their son was a lazy, good-for-nothing that only spoiled his family's good name and nothing he could do would ever change that image.

"That's enough," his father brusquely cut in to no one's surprise.

"Ulrich, honey, we had no idea. We'd never be okay with someone hurting you," Mrs. Stern quietly added before moving to wrap her son in a loose hug and kissing the top of his head. He was in an absolute daze at her words. How could they have had no idea? Hadn't everything been their fault? Ulrich wasn't so sure anymore; after all he'd been the one who'd consistently gotten poor marks to begin with and had overfed everyone with false promises of doing better. Now he was finally improving and all he had to do was suffer a few bruises and head injuries. Was that okay if it was what everyone had always wanted from him?

Looking upon his face and motherly straightening his hair, she saw the purple bump beneath his bangs. Gasping she brushed the hair away and grasped her husband's forearm with her other hand.

"Erik, look."

He still didn't hear any sort of response from his father and he wasn't sure if no news was good news.

"Ulrich," his mother addressed him reproachfully again, "are there any other injuries?"

Deciding that they'd already seen the worst, after maneuvering his mother's arms from his body, Ulrich lifted the hem of his jersey to reveal a few inches of his marred skin. Finally feeling confident enough to look up at his father, he was astounded to see Mr. Stern's eyes as wide as dinner plates. He knew that showing them his abdomen was the only fool proof way of casting aside any doubts they might've had about his story. Some of the bruises were yellowing and healing while many were dark and more noticeable; verification that he'd been hurt over time and not just in some fist fight or crazy stunt. Dropping his shirt back down, Ulrich shuffled his feet in apprehension. The nervousness he'd been feeling ever sense Mr. Delmas had said he'd have to tell his parents was slowly deteriorating but instead he was left feeling empty. Why had this happened to him?

Hearing his phone go off from his pocket, he quickly answered it.

"Yeah?"

**_"_****_Ulrich, where are you? Are you okay?"_**Jeremie asked with a stern tone.

"I'm with my parents and I'm fine, why?" Ulrich heard a sigh from his friend; apparently he was more worried than he wanted to let on.

**_"_****_XANA's launched an attack. We're not sure what it is yet and we're hoping we don't have to find out. Yumi, Odd, and Aelita are being virtualized as we speak so you shouldn't have to worry, but you can never be too careful, so keep your eyes open."_**

Nodding, Ulrich replied, "Got it. But Jeremie, do me a favor will ya?"

**_"_****_What is it?"_**

"If you can help it, don't do a return to the past. This day has been bad enough the first time."

After a short pause Jeremie agreed and hung up. Turning to his parents, Ulrich pocketed his phone and eyed them curiously. They both looked so apologetic but for what he wasn't sure. Sorry they'd had his Uncle tutor him? His uncle wouldn't have laid a hand on him if he would have aced that history test.

Shaking his head and distancing himself from them a bit, he tried to force the thought from his mind. Hearing his father clear his throat, Ulrich prepared himself for a lengthy lecture.

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That's all for now! Sooooo the 24 hours is up and 25 reviews was probably too much to ask for...but I'm so grateful that you guys chipped in what you did so I decided to go ahead and give you this chapter. However the next one won't be for at least another week because I haven't added to it at all since I've started posting it and I really need to work on my other story before my readers give up on it for good. Anyways thanks again for reading/reviewing 3


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